Former Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the administration’s handling of the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files in closed door remarks Friday, amid bipartisan criticism of botched redactions in the millions of pages that were made public during her tenure.

“There were redaction errors,” Bondi acknowledged, according to her prepared opening statement to members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee obtained by Blue Light News. “But since day one of this process, this Department has been committed to accountability and transparency.”

She continued, “Our stance has always been that the Department stands ready to review any potential evidence of criminal activity related to Epstein and his associates and would pursue appropriate investigative or prosecutorial action wherever the facts and law warrant.”

She also said she delegated oversight of the Epstein files release process to her then-deputy, Todd Blanche, who is now acting attorney general.

Bondi is on Capitol Hill for a transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee as part of the panel’s ongoing investigation into the late, convicted sex offender. She specifically is being asked to speak about the DOJ’s compliance, or lack thereof, with the Epstein Files Transparency Act — legislation passed by Congress in November that compelled the government to release documents and materials in the federal government’s possession related to the Epstein case.

The committee voted to subpoena Bondi for her testimony in March in a surprising move initiated by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and backed by four other House Republicans, a stunning rebuke of the administration’s handling of the Epstein matter. Rarely, if ever, does the party in the majority subpoena a sitting Cabinet member of their own party.

After Bondi was fired by President Donald Trump about a month later, Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) downgraded the terms of her appearance to a transcribed interview rather than a formal deposition — meaning she would not have to answer questions under oath and the proceedings would not be videotaped.

Bondi last appeared before Congress in February in an oversight hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, during which several of Epstein’s victims sat in the audience behind her. Despite entreaties from Democrats to engage with the victims, Bondi declined.

She referred back to that February hearing in her opening statement Friday, saying that she was “deeply sorry for what any victim has been through, especially as a result of that monster.”

But a group of Epstein’s victims returned to Capitol Hill for Bondi’s transcribed interview Friday, where they pleaded outside the hearing room for witnesses in the Oversight investigation to be sworn in and videotaped for full transparency and accountability.

One of the victims, Sharlene Rochard, confronted Comer on Friday morning as he addressed reporters before joining for the start of Bondi’s interview, asking him to promise that individuals brought in as part of the congressional Epstein investigation testify under oath.

“If you lie to Congress, it’s a felony,” Comer said, defending his own panel’s process. “We’re bringing people in that have never been brought in before.”

Liz Stein, another victim, asked Comer to commit to getting answers from the former attorney general about the redaction process, specifically why details about victims were exposed while information about potential perpetrators was withheld.

“Those are questions we’re going to ask, and we’re doing this. We want justice for the survivors,” Comer said, adding that if Epstein’s victims were not satisfied by Bondi’s responses, the committee would work to get them answers.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the Oversight Committee’s top Democrat, told reporters he and his colleagues were “incredibly disappointed” by the majority’s decision not to force Bondi to testify under the parameters of a subpoena.

“We obviously have a lot of questions as it relates to why only 50 percent of the files have been released, why many of the survivors … were literally put in danger by the way the files were released,” Garcia said. “And of course, why this continues to be some type of cover-up.”

More than half a dozen Democrats are on hand to question Bondi, while Comer is the only Republican to come back to Washington early from the weeklong congressional recess. Mace had previously said she planned to come back to town to question the former attorney general but was not present Friday morning, explaining she was busy preparing for the South Carolina gubernatorial primary election next month.

Donald Trump just ousted another Republican he viewed as insufficiently loyal. Two years from now, his revenge list could be even longer.

The president has already lashed out at two House Republicans due to perceived slights, with the White House floating a longer list of potential targets over the past year. Trump could also take aim at several GOP senators up for reelection in 2028 — including Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Indiana’s Todd Young — as he seeks to make a lasting mark on the Republican Party in the final stretch of his presidency.

The prospect that Trump’s much-ballyhooed “revenge tour” could continue into another election cycle was underscored by his late decision to endorse against Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who lost his renomination bid Tuesday night to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Cornyn backed Trump in January 2024 and went to great lengths to win Trump’s favor once Trump secured the 2024 Republican nomination for president — after initially running lukewarm on his comeback bid. Trump’s decision to seek retribution anyway, some believe, could lead other GOP lawmakers to think twice about running for another term rather than mount a grueling and potentially futile bid for renomination.

“Look at all of them that are up in 2028 … do they think about retiring?” asked one Republican senator who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about colleagues who have previously broken with the president.

Others think it’s too soon to tell — especially if Trump’s moves to drum out more establishment-minded Republicans backfire in the November midterms.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who is leaving office at the end of this year, said in an interview that he “could see” some of his colleagues retiring rather than risk a Trump-fueled primary challenge.

“But I also think … he’s not going to carry the same weight in the 2028 election cycle, particularly if we’ve lost one or both chambers in 2026,” Tillis said of Trump. “So I think these members ought to be who they are. Period.”

Asked about the 2028 races, the White House pointed back to Trump’s Truth Social post endorsing Paxton over Cornyn, which does not address future races. Trump, in that post, said Cornyn was “not supportive of me when times were tough” and “was very late in backing me” in 2024.

Trump’s appetite for revenge also hasn’t been entirely consistent. Some congressional Republicans who were asking questions about Trump’s e fitness all the way back to the launch of his first presidential campaign in 2015 have managed to skate by.

That includes Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. She was one of seven Republicans to vote to convict Trump of an impeachment charge in 2021 but has largely escaped the president’s wrath as she tries to hold onto her seat in a Democratic-leaning state. Trump has also thrown his support behind Sen. Mike Rounds, despite once calling the South Dakotan a “jerk” he would never endorse again.

Trump hasn’t made any specific 2028 primary endorsements yet as he keeps focus squarely on 2026.

But he threatened to back a challenger to Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert earlier this month over her support for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who fell this month to a Trump-backed primary opponent — even though the filing deadline for Boebert’s 2026 primary has already passed.

He also took a whack at Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick last week — a day after the Pennsylvania Republican advanced past his uncontested primary for a sixth term representing a swingy suburban Philadelphia seat.

But the real fireworks could come in 2028 Senate primaries, which could feature several of Trump’s most persistent critics.

Three GOP senators up next cycle — Murkowski, Paul and Young — caught a tongue-lashing from the president earlier this year after they were among five Republicans who voted to advance a resolution that would have prevented the administration from taking additional military action against Venezuela. In addition to angry phone calls to the lawmakers at the time, Trump called them out in a Truth Social post where he said they “should never be elected to office again.”

Also up for reelection in 2028: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has generally enjoyed a positive relationship with Trump during his second presidential term but faces potential potholes ahead.

Trump, for instance, has shown no sign of backing off his attempt to eliminate the Senate filibuster, even as Thune publicly insists there aren’t the votes to do so. Thune also acknowledged last week that Trump’s effort to unseat incumbents would make advancing the GOP’s legislative agenda “slightly more complicated.”

Paul, meanwhile, has been a perennial gadfly for his party on everything from last year’s megabill to routine spending votes and the Iran war, where he has repeatedly backed efforts to curb the president’s ability to take military action without congressional signoff. Like Boebert, he was an outspoken backer of Massie’s reelection campaign.

Asked about his own history with Trump, Paul has batted down the notion his seat might be at risk — including after another GOP doctor-turned-senator, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, lost his bid for renomination this month.“I was a big defender of the president on impeachment, so I think there’s quite a bit of difference,” Paul told reporters, referring to Cassidy’s 2021 conviction vote.

Fellow Republicans are closely watching both Murkowski and Young ahead of 2028 — whether either gets a primary challenger, or runs again at all.

Young is gearing up to run for reelection. But at least one possible primary challenger is publicly eying the race, and Rep. Erin Houchin is among others who are thought to be looking at a run.

Houchin heartily backed Trump’s effort to oust eight Republicans in the Indiana state Senate who helped kill a GOP redistricting plan earlier this year, joining their primary challengers when they visited the White House before the state’s May primary. She also raised eyebrows recently when she hired the MAGA-aligned consultant Chris Grant, who rarely works on House races these days, for her reelection campaign.

Trump didn’t endorse Young during his 2022 race, where he ran unopposed in the primary. And in the lead-up to the 2024 election, Young said he didn’t support Trump as the party’s nominee.

But Young has also positioned himself as a team player during Trump’s second term, voting for the president’s nominees and major pieces of his agenda. Young ultimately flipped on the Venezuela resolution, voting to kill it after getting assurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other Trump administration officials.

Still, Young and Trump have managed to keep things civil. Young flew on Air Force One with Trump and other lawmakers in March and Trump recognized him alongside Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan at a recent White House event as “good senators” and “great guys.”

Murkowski, meanwhile, is the only Senate Republican up for reelection in 2028 who voted to convict Trump on an impeachment charge of having “incited an insurrection” in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol by a mob of the president’s supporters.

Trump hasn’t shied away from criticizing Murkowski — calling her and Tillis “terrible senators” and saying that Murkowski “should be gone.” He has also backed an effort to eliminate Alaska’s all-party, ranked-choice voting system, which helped Murkowski edge out another Republican in 2022. He thanked other state-level Republicans and members of Alaska’s congressional delegation, but not Murkowski, in a recent Truth Social post related to the effort.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is among those thought to be considering a challenge. Responding to a Fox News report last year that he would jump into the 2028 race, a spokesperson said at the time that “Governor Dunleavy is focused on moving Alaska forward during the remainder of his second term.” Other Republicans cautioned that they thought the report was a trial balloon for the governor, who is leaving office at the end of the year.

Murkowski provided a key vote to help pass last year’s tax-cuts-focused GOP megabill and has voted for Trump’s Cabinet nominees, though not Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. But she has also been one of the Senate Republicans most willing to push back publicly against Trump’s agenda, including helping kill the GOP Obamacare repeal plan during his first term. She voted against advancing Trump’s immigration enforcement bill and a GOP election measure earlier this year and frequently speaks out against Trump’s efforts to eliminate the filibuster.

Asked how she has survived Trump’s wrath so far, Murkowski said she has stayed focused on home-state issues, like the revamping of the federal polar icebreaking fleet.

“That’s what I think about,” she told reporters after Trump endorsed against Cornyn. “I don’t get caught up in, ‘Does the president love me today or hate me today?’ If I did, I would be a crazy woman, and I’m not a crazy woman.”

Adam Wren contributed to this report.

As Democrats struggle to come up with a plan to regulate artificial intelligence, one member of Congress has a high-risk idea: talk to the opposition.

Rep. Lori Trahan of Massachusetts, a four-term lawmaker and member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has been involved in conversations around the emerging technology for some time.

In the last three weeks, however, Trahan has gotten more serious about clinching a bipartisan accord. That includes meeting privately with Rep. Jay Obernolte of California, a Republican who also serves on the committee and has long held an interest in AI policy and has deep ties to the tech industry.

Her decision to carve out this partnership without the explicit blessing of her party leaders — who are instead encouraging a small group of Democrats to pursue a separate, partisan track — is already raising eyebrows.

“There’s a big difference between putting a stake in the ground on tech, and making it clear that you’re serious on tech, and undermining the caucus’s position on AI,” said a senior congressional Democrat who was granted anonymity to speak candidly due to the sensitive nature of ongoing AI negotiations.

In an interview last week, Trahan said her engagement was a no-brainer.

“I think it’s not a mystery what I’m fighting for in these conversations,” she said. “Safety is paramount; our kids, our national security, innovation. … We think the moment requires it.”

But Trahan’s gambit is no sure bet. If she can strike a viable agreement with Obernolte, she will have proven that she has the political savvy ideal for an aspiring leader: She’s a co-chair of the House Democratic messaging arm and isn’t ruling out a bid for a promotion in the next Congress. If she can’t clinch a deal — or worse, if she signs off on something her fellow Democrats think gives too much away — she could alienate members of her own party in Washington and back home.

Democrats have been struggling to define where they stand on AI for months amid competing priorities. If they move to put more guardrails on AI companies, they could face retaliation from deep-pocketed, pro-AI super PACs. If they let these companies proceed unchecked, progressives warn it could put the party out of step with voters concerned about lost jobs, the energy consumption associated with data centers and infringements on personal privacy.

Trahan said Democrats can’t afford to wait or retreat: “Suppose there is a catastrophic event or suppose there is a disruption to an employer where people are laid off because you weren’t at the table, we weren’t having these conversations,” she said. “Like, how do I look folks back in the eye and say, ‘Oh yeah, we were just waiting until we had the gavels.’”

As she works with Obernotle, Trahan insisted she has sought input from fellow Democrats and received recommendations, but not “pushback.” She added she is approaching discussions with “humility” and considers herself a “team player” in the caucus.

Her caucus, however, is consumed with its own deliberations. Rep. Ted Lieu of California, the No. 4 Democratic leader, is helping lead a “House Democratic Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy,” convened by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

With Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Valerie Foushee of North Carolina serving as co-chairs, the commission is currently working to come up with an AI regulatory framework Democrats can own and campaign on ahead of the midterms — all but spurning conversations with Republicans and distancing themselves from Trahan’s efforts.

“I know very little about what she and Obernotle are discussing. I have not been read in,” Lieu said in an interview. “We’re focused on building a framework for Leader Jeffries before the end of the year on what Democrats should focus on after we flip the House.”

“But members can do whatever they want,” he continued. “I haven’t followed [Trahan] — I literally have no idea what language even looks like or if they’ve even talked about language.”

In a potentially awkward situation depending on what comes of Trahan’s efforts, Lieu expects to become House Democratic Caucus chair in the next Congress — and Trahan is one of a handful of members angling for the vice chair slot Lieu now holds.

Regarding her leadership ambitions, Trahan said that “if there’s an opportunity for me to continue at the leadership table, I would love to have that conversation.”

Jeffries, asked about her AI pursuits, said in a brief interview, “I haven’t talked to Lori Trahan about it.”

Trahan is also taking a gamble by entering into high-stakes policy talks with a Republican who doesn’t have a great track record of landing deals with Democrats.

Lieu ran an AI policy task force with Obernolte in the previous Congress, and they introduced legislation earlier this year that would improve standards, invest in workforce development programs and deter harmful deepfakes. That bill has gone nowhere.

Meanwhile, Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.) engaged in his own series of talks with Obernolte earlier this year that likewise failed to bear fruit.

“We’re all interested in trying to find a framework that makes sense,” Liccardo said in an interview. “Jay is open-minded, but he has constraints on his side of the aisle, and it makes it very difficult to find openness.”

Trahan and Obernolte have declined to publicly discuss specific policies that are under consideration in their discussions, with Obernolte not even wanting to divulge he was working with Trahan on anything related to AI: “I am neither confirming or denying that I am talking to her,” he said in an interview.

Trahan, in contrast, said, “I’ve been very happy to work with Jay. … I like the way the conversations are progressing, and, you know, I’m hopeful that we can share something soon.”

They could run into problems. Obernolte has consistently pushed for replacing existing state laws on AI with an overarching federal framework. That’s a more moderate approach than banning states from making their own AI rules without any federal guardrails — which is favored by GOP leadership — but it remains anathema to many Democrats.

Earlier this month, people familiar with Trahan and Obernolte’s talks said a potential deal would involve preempting AI safety laws like those in California and New York that require top AI developers to disclose information about new models to identify security risks.

That potential trajectory prompted alarm from blue state legislators, including in Trahan’s home state, where a data center boom has rattled locals worried about job losses, higher energy prices and environmental impacts.

Last month, Massachusetts State Sen. Michael Moore and State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier wrote to Trahan that while they aren’t opposed to a federal framework, they don’t want to undermine existing state laws, such as on data privacy.

Trahan declined to rule out that state preemption is on the table in her talks with Obernolte but she said her subsequent conversation with Moore and Farley-Bouvier was “productive,” with the three of them “aligned on our values in terms of making sure we hold the line on safety.”

Moore, in an interview, echoed Trahan’s characterization of their phone call, but added he hadn’t yet seen a draft of her proposal and warned that he didn’t necessarily trust the Trump administration to implement it responsibly.

This isn’t Trahan’s first politically fraught policy fight. She recently said she tried to negotiate with Republicans on the so-called SCORE Act, which would among other things preempt a patchwork of state laws governing how student athletes are paid.

She wanted to help land a bipartisan bill that would level the playing field for everyone — what she calls her guiding principle in AI talks. But Trahan eventually walked away when GOP leaders decided to pursue a partisan path, culminating in a canceled floor vote on the measure last week.

As for why she thinks bipartisan AI negotiations might be different, Trahan suggested it could, if nothing else, come down to stamina.

“The stakes are too high for us to rush it,” she said, “and they’re too high for us to get it wrong.”

Gabby Miller and Brendan Bordelon contributed to this report.